Sunday, September 15, 2013

One of my readers of my last blog post about the blind insurance agent discovery, found the newspaper articles about the back story. I was sure there had to be more details. The first article was on page 15 of the 18 March 1916 of The Chicago Daily Tribune. It not only described the altercation, but it told of Frederick losing his sight, refusing to marry his fiancée, being lured into the marriage, and a rather scary night with a stranger in the apartment.

“Husband Blind;

Roomer in Home;

Divorce Sought

Romance of Broker and

Fiancee Who Stuck to

Him Bared by Suit

SHE CHARGES A PLOT

Frederick T. Richardson, whose sudden

blindness figured in a romatic marriage

in 1907, and who is a prosperous insur-

ance broker, brought suit for divorce yes-

terday.

Richardson accuses his wife of being

too friendly with Henry F. Baker, 26

years old, a clerk, and a member of the

Richardson household. Richardson is 47

years old and his wife 35.

Richardson, who is junior member of

the insurance firm of William Richardson

& Son, was engaged to be maried in 1907.

His eyes were failing, but it was believed

that he would recover their use. One

evening as he sat with his father, mother,

and sister he spoke suddenly:

“Who turned off the lights?”

Stricken with Blindness.

He was assured that the lights were still

burning. For a time it was feared he had

lost his reason. Then it dawned upon his

family that he had lost his sight. At first

he was dejected, then determined to make

the most of it. The girl to whom he was

engaged came to him.

“We cannot marry,” he told her. But

she would not listen.

“Your affliction shall not keep me from

your side.” she told him. “We shall be

married and I will always be with you.”

But Richarson persisted in refusing to

handicap, as he thought, the future of

his financée. On Sept. 4, 1907, Richardson

was encouraged to attend a party in St.

Joseph, Mich. As the story goes, he was

taken on an automobile ride and the end

of the journey was in a justice’s office.

His brave fiancée was determined to show

that she was “with him through thick

and thin.” They were married.

Taps His Way Out of Flat.

A week ago Friday neighbors said there

was a commotion of some sort in the

Richardson flat. After it had quieted

down Richardson was heard tapping his

way downstairs with his cane. For the

last few months, since he has been en-

tirely without sight, he has been led

about by a boy.

Last night Mrs. Richardson told of

her domestic affairs.

“On the night in question,” said Mrs.

Richardon, “Mr. Richardson was in his

room and I was in mine. Mr. Baker, who

is a boarder at our house, was in his

room.

Plot, She Charges.

“I hear a noise and tried to awaken

Mr. Baker, but the boy slept soundly.

Before I could arouse Mr. Richardson

there was a man in the apartment and

another man and a policeman were at

the door. Mr. Richardson tired to push

me into a room with Mr. Baker, but when

I saw they were private detective I re-

fused to be made a scapegoat.

“The men then took the poor boy, Mr.

Baker, who was white with fright into a

rear room and forced him to sigh a con-

fession of guilt.”

The elder Richardson is residing in San

Diego, Cal. The younger man could not

be found last night.”

The next article, gives both versions of the events of that Friday night 10 March 1916 and the threats in the months leading up to it. It sounds like a divorce is a good idea for both of these people described in The Chicago Daily Tribune, on Tuesday 16 May 1916:

“BLIND HUSBAND

SET TRAP TO TEST

WIFE’S FIDELITY

_________

Says New Dollar Bills He Put

In Her Bed Were Not Wrin-

kled Next Morning.

_________

SHE DENIES ALL CHARGES.

________

A blind husband and his wife -- the wife

alleging her nerves had been shattered

by treatment she received at his hands--

yesterday testified against each other in

Judge McKinley’s court. Frederick T.

Richardson, junior member of the insur-

ance firm of William RIchardson & Son,

is the husband, and he is seek divorce

from his wife, Mrs. Frances E. Richard-

son, on charges of infidelity.

Blindness, the affliction which cast a

halo of romance about their marriage

seven years ago, was capitalized in the

testimony by both the man and the

woman. Mr. Richardson swore that his

wife took advantage of his condition to

flirt with Henry F. Baker, a one time

friend and roomer in the Richardson

home, at 4021 Lake Park avenue. Mrs.

Richardson emphasized the assertion

that she married Mr. Richardson al-

though she knew he was doomed to blind-

ness and that she cared for him faith-

fully during the seven years of their mar-

ried life.

Says He Threatened Murder.

In addition to denying her husband’s

accusations Mrs. Richardson brought

countercharges against him. His con-

duct, she said, was “inhuman.” She

accused him of compelling her to submit

to indignities by threatening to end his

life unless she did as he demanded. On

several occasions, she said, he had

threatened to kill both her and himself.

There was also the name of “another

woman.” Mrs. Richardson said on one

occasion three years ago she overheard

he husband talking over the telephone

with another woman. She said she cried,

threatened to end his life, and finally

gave her the woman’s name. Mrs. Rich-

ardson said the woman was “Mrs. La

Pointe, who lives at 2541 Indiana avenue.”

Broke Into Apartment.

Mr. Richardson rested his case on cer-

tain occurrences on the night of March

10. Since that night, he said, he and

his wife have been living apart. Pri-

vate detectives testified that they went

to the Richardson apartment that night

and found Mrs. Richardson in Mr. Bak-

er’s room, which adjoined her own. Mr.

Richardson told the jurors that he called

the detectives after his own original

methods had led him to believe his wife

faithless.

Handicapped by his blindness, according-

ing to Mr. Richardson, he put crisp dol-

lar bills between the sheets of his wife’s

bed in the evenings. In the mornings,

he said, he would enter his wife’s room

after she was out of the way. If he

found the bills still there unwrinkled,

then he believed that his wife had not

occcupied the bed.

Story by Wife.

Mrs. Richardson gave another version

of what happened in the apartment that

night. She said she had gone to be “at

the usual time, 10 or half-past.”

“Between half-past 1 and 2,” the wife

said, “I heard voices outside the window.

Then I saw a hand raising the window.

I jumped out of bed and ran through to

Mr. Baker’s room screaming for help. I

locked the door behind me. He didn’t pay

any attention and then I ran to my hus-

band’s room. I told Mr. Richardson there

were burglars in the house. He didn’t

seem to pay any attention. He grabbed

me, and I had to break a-way.

“Neither Mr. Richardson nor Mr.

Baker seemed to care about the burglars.

I couldn’t understand. Neither one of

them said anything. Then Mr. Richard-

son opened the door and these men” --

she indicated the detectives in the court-

room--”came in. I went to my room to

get on some clothes.”

Mrs. Richardson then denied the

charges of infidelity made against her.”

Traps to show infidelity by one of the "happily married couple" and information on "the other woman" revealed by the other. Stories of threatened violence and even putting new dollar bills under the other's bedsheets. The next day is the verdict, 17 May 1916, The Chicago Daily Tribune, page, almost word-for-word reprinted in the Portland Oregon paper quoted in the last post.

• 1923 F.T. Richardson dies in Winamac, Indiana, one of his obituaries says he and his wife moved there about 6 years ago. 1923 - 6 = 1917. The final wife in the court papers (I'm still waiting for from Chicago) is named Sadie Richardson, as is in the land records from Pulaski County, Indiana.

I checked the 1910 census for Chicago for a "Sadie LaPointe" -- guess who shows up at 2541 Indiana Avenue, married to a Frank R LaPointe? Sadie LaPointe.

Is this the Sadie who our Frederick marries and moves with to Winamac, Indiana about a year after his divorce?

Maybe the wife was telling the truth and the jury of 12 men didn't believe her!

About Erica

Welcome to my blog on my adventures as I try to figure out my family's history. Over the years I've had some amazing adventures and met some wonderful people along the way. I keep looking for the stories behind the people (along with those names and dates) and I keep trying to find those women who weren't well documented in the past. I hope you'll enjoy what I post and if you want to contact me, send a note voolich@gmail.com.